Chinghiz Aitmatov

thumb|right|220px|Aitmatov in November 2003 Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov (12 December 1928 – 10 June 2008) was a Kyrgyz author who wrote mainly in Russian, but also in Kyrgyz. He is one of the best-known figures in Kyrgyz literature. Quotes Jamilia (1958) All quotes are from the James Riordan translation, published by Telegram Books in 2007, 978-1-84659-032-0 How could someone like Osman know what’s in a person’s soul? Nobody knows. Maybe no man in the world knows what’s in a woman’s soul. p. 25 ‘Daniyar, tell us about the war before we bed down for the night.’He said nothing for a while, even seemed put out by the question, staring hard into the fire; then he looked up and glared at us.‘Talk about the war?’ he asked, as if responding to his own private thoughts. ‘No, it’s better to know nothing about it.’ p. 39 The childish egotism I had not yet outgrown flared up inside me in terrific jealousy. Children, after all, always resent their loved ones associating with outsiders. pp. 46-47 I would have liked to have gone up to him, put my arm around him and said something comforting. But what would I say? After standing there for a while I finally turned around. I lay on the hay for a time, looking up at the cloud-darkened sky and wondering why life was so incomprehensible and complicated. p. 82 It seemed that when Jamilia left, my mother’s former strength left with her. She became stooped and haggard. Now I realize she could not accept someone breaking with tradition. If a storm uproots a mighty tree, the tree will never grow again. p. 91 External links Category:1928 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Novelists from Kyrgyzstan Category:Short story writers Category:Ambassadors